Two major music industry organizations in the U.K. have issued support for the “ISRC in Broadcast WAV” initiative initiated by the Music Producers Guild.
With BPI (also known as British Phonographic Industry) and AIM (Association of Independent Music), the two major record label trade groups, in tow, getting the rest of the music U.K. industry to adopt the standard shouldn’t be a problem. After that, the world awaits.
The goal is to require International Standard Recording Code metadata coding within WAV files used in production and, ultimately, mastering and consumer production. The coding allows for proper accreditation of tracks when it comes to royalties and legal issues.
Barry Grint of Alchemy Mastering and a leader in the effort explained: “WAV is the standard format for music interchange in the production process, but MPG members were frustrated that there was no method of embedding industry-standard ISRC information in the format to enable more accurate identification the content of files. Working in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union, which created a professional version of the WAV format called Broadcast WAV, we have been able to ensure the carriage of ISRC information in this type of file, thus removing the need for it to be reentered and reducing the opportunity for error.”
He added: “This is fantastic news for all recording artists and copyright owners because adopting Broadcast WAV will make file identification and content tracking much easier and more accurate. It will also help royalty agencies develop more precise systems for payments, thereby safeguarding the incomes of artists and copyright owners when their recordings are played on air.”
BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said: “We’ll be encouraging our members to adopt Broadcast WAV as a standard. By incorporating ISRC data into the WAV file, we can provide a more accurate and reliable means of identifying recordings when they are exchanged between labels and studios.”
Related:
Guild Pushes ISRC for BWF
